A site about recovering from a stroke

Credit

In my previous life, I let people walk all over me, never expressed how I truly felt, and wallowed in anger in private. All of this anger and stress probably contributed to my stroke. Well, a few things have changed and now when I’m upset with someone I tell that person, if it’s worth telling that is. Sometimes it’s just not worth it. There have been a few instances in the past few years where other people have tried to take credit for my ideas. When I went back to OT last summer, I did mirror therapy which helped me greatly. It was completely my idea and my request that we do that. At the end of my sessions, my OT (who I adore) said to me “now aren’t you glad I convinced you to come back for treatment and do mirror therapy?” No honey, it was 100% my decision to go back for some OT and it was my request to do mirror therapy. When I started the therapeutic yoga that I do, it was for a very specific purpose that was completely unrelated to my stroke. I started KY because of research that I found about it. There are many protocols/kriyas in KY that have lots of published research to support them. For the entire first year of doing KY, it was like this. I would find a protocol that I wanted to do based on my research and it would be taught to me at my request. Singing lessons were started because my therapist – talk therapist, NOT speech therapist recommended that I try that. I’m kind of disgusted that my singing lessons have helped me so much more than any speech therapy ever did. Oh well. I want to give credit where credit is due and I absolutely, most definitely have – and then some. The point of this post is to tell everyone that other people have had very little to do with the decision-making process of my recovery so far.

My former yoga teacher is the #1 person who tried to take credit for my research, my discoveries, my work, MY recovery. I have referred some people to and am now very embarrassed about it

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Except for my OT who knew exactly what muscles weren’t working and what I needed to work on, everything about my recovery is mine alone. And that is a major problem. Our medical team should have stroke protocols for every bit of recovery possible. Sorry I’m assuming our medical team has at least a tiny bit of intelligence. My bad.

Yeah I know, one of my project leaders when we were pulling an all-nighter to try to meet an artificial deadline she stupidly set. ‘You don’t assume anything, that will just make an ass out of u and me, ass-u-me’ I practically gagged at the stupidity of that encouragement to meet her screwed up deadline. She lasted another six months and then became a wedding planner.

This reminds me of Barb’s recent post re:DIY medical. Sad but true….if the medical “experts” are good for anything….and I’m not saying they are….its to act as a resource occasionally. I would go to them to “pick their brains” or bounce ideas off of then go home to do my own research. Then I’d go back and demand whatever I decided was best. If they refused, which they did many times… I’d “fire” them and go to the next. I guess that’s why I had 10 neuros, and 3 rehab teams. Screw them….the way i see it is: you get one shot at recovery and a lifetime to live with the results…I wasn’t taking any chances.

People in every area of my life have taken credit for things I’ve accomplished – most frequently at work. But I don’t care – I know what I’ve been responsible for, and the only one I’m trying to impress is me. Let them say/think what they want. Does that make me a doormat? I like to think of it as serene.

I LOVEmy aquatic PT, and she takes credit for my improvements, not my work without her – mirror therapy, conventional exercises, rowing machine or walking. If she wants to, if it makes her feel proud of herself, that’s okay by me. She verbalized it as praise and encouragement – look how far you’ve come; I knew being in the pool would help you. That’s fine because I also give water therapy a lot of credit for my provements, and I’m grateful. i see no reason for me to take that sense of accomplishment away from her.

AMY: WAS YOUR CEREBELLUM DAMAGED AND, IF SO, HOW WAS BALANCE RESTORED? HOW LONG DID IT TAKE, DO YOU GIVE CREDIT FOR REGAINING BALANCE TO A THERAPIST
OR WHAT? MY STROKE HAPPENED TWO YEARS AGO THIS COMING 4TH OF JULY. WHAT A WAY TO CELEBRATE INDEPENDENCE DAY!!! I LOST MY INDEPENDENCE – CAN’T EVEN DRIVE NOW. THANKS VERY MUCH, AMY, FOR RESPONDING. I BELIVE IN GOD AND MIRACLES, BUT FEEL QUITE HOPELESS. SALLY

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Disclaimer…

This blog IS NOT intended to be medical advice of any sort. I am writing about my experiences, my knowledge, and my opinions. My goal is to tell people what I'm going through and hopefully help someone.
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All that being said, rest assured that everything you read on this blog is written by a highly educated, highly trained, and highly experienced medical practitioner.
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Dr. Amy Elder (formerly Shissler) PT, DPT, Cert. MDT------my full name and title